Hey guys, hope all is well and safe during these crazy times!

I just purchased an awesome "new to me" older Ranger (2006 521VX) equipped with 4 Lowrance graphs (2 bow, 2 console) and don't have a clue how to do all the settings and how to operate at optimum level, guess I'm old school but would love to learn! I live in Roanoke which is near Grapevine lake and not to far from Ray Bob. Would like to see if anyone is out here that might give a couple of hours of basic lessons.

Thanks

I upgraded to the HDS carbon units last year and used YouTube to get a lot of info. After watching and some practice, I’m pretty comfortable with using them but am by no means a power user. There’s also a member on here that I’ve reached out to on one occasion to answer some questions. Good luck, they are great units imo

Go to the Lowrance website support page. Download the manual for each unit you have. Read them as many times as it takes to comprehend the content. After a couple of times, go sit in the boat and follow along with steps in the manual for which buttons to use for which menu and setting, etc. Learning how to get to settings and what settings are available are "step 1" to being able to use your electronics on the water. Doing this process this way will help you avoid information overload and confusion when you get on the water. There will still be more work to do on the water, but doing at least some work to be prepared is wise. You probably studied before a big test in school, right? ....this is no different.

I suggest you try some of the basics above on your own first. Later, you may feel the need to get some instruction time from a pro, and that's fine. It will be more beneficial the more you already understand about your units before you do something like that. You will want to concentrate on the finer points with an instructor, and that can't happen so easily when overwhelmed by the basics before you get to the good stuff.

thank you! I really appreciate the feedback. One thing I'm having trouble with is determining what transducer that I have??? How can I check that out? One of the youtube videos said to reset everything to factory default but need to know what transducer to select.

Bob Maindelle will be your best best, he's in Temple Tx. YOu'll learn more in 4 hrs than from anywhere else, on your own boat.
Tim

Unless it’s been removed, there should be a tag near the connector end that attaches to the head unit with the info you need about the transducer

If you have a transducer mounted inside the bilge, and you probably do since you have a Ranger freshwater boat with Lowrance sonar, there's about a 99% chance it's a model PD-WBL transducer. This has been the standard "shoot through hull" transducer since HDS units were introduced. Here's a link to see what one looks like. Lowrance "puck" transducer

You might even be able to look through the drain fitting and see it. They hare often mounted very close to the drain inside the hull. If you can't see it, you may have to do a little work inside the boat to get to put eyes on it. I'd be comfortable from just setting it as PD-WBL and see how it works before going to that effort.

For temperature, look at the drain fitting at the transom, then look up above it on the horizontal flat part of the "hull step" that you might say is a raised part of the bottom of the boat. If you see a round black disc that is flush with the hull, you have a NMEA network with a temperature sensor on it. This would be the ideal temperature probe to select in your settings for temperature source.

You didn't say what model graphs you have. Watch the screen when you turn them on and they usually flash the model series as they boot. You probably have a large long transducer mounted on the bottom of that hull step also. That would be your sidescan/downscan transducer (aka "StructureScan" in Lowrance marketing naming). Those can also be selected for a temperature source, but they are slower to respond to temperature changes. Select that as your temperature source if you don't have the temperature probe mentioned above.

The manual you should download will tell you how to make the settings. I wouldn't do a "return to factory settings" just yet as you may mess up a number of things you'll have a heck of a time ever getting right again because you know so little about it at this point.

Thank you guys! I appreciate all of the tips and help!